An Extinct Species Joins the Fray

Take a deep breath: another candidate is thinking of joining the race for the East Side Assembly seat being vacated by Pete Grannis. And this one’s a Republican! (Yes, they still exist in Manhattan, I’m told.)

Meet Kenneth Moltner, a Community Board 8 member and an attorney by trade.

“I’m seriously considering it,” Moltner told me yesterday. “It is not a yes. It is not no. I’m seriously considering it.” He declined to get into what factors would sway his decision.

His potential candidacy does prompt a practical question: Who would a Republican Assemblyman in Albany turn to for help with, well, anything?

“When we speak of allies, if I run, I would be there to work for the people of my district.”

Moltner said he’d fashion himself in the mold of former lawmakers John Ravitz in the Assembly and Roy Goodman in the state Senate.